Ethiopia says 800 'Eritrea-backed' fighters surrender

Nearly 800 members of little-known TPDM group have fled their base in Eritrea and turned themselves in, government says.

17 Sep 2015 00:49 GMT

Ethiopia has previously dismissed the armed group as 'puppets' acting under the orders of arch-foe Eritrea [EPA]

Hundreds of Ethiopian fighters have fled their base in Eritrea and surrendered to authorities, handing over their weapons, the foreign ministry said.

In a statement late on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said that Tigray People's Democratic Movement (TPDM) leader Mola Asgedom and "nearly 800 fighters" crossed to Ethiopia on Sunday, having fought their way past Eritrean troops.

"We came to the conclusion that an armed struggle was meaningless," Mola told the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, adding the group had been in contact with Addis Ababa for over a year before deserting.

"Bringing about good governance and democracy to Ethiopia were the main objective of our armed struggle," Mola said according to the AFP news agency.

"We have also come to realise the economic progress Ethiopia has achieved and the destabilising agenda espoused by the Eritrean regime and other groups."